


An Illness I care not to Admit

by 2Elenora2



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Eric Bittle tells him whats wrong, HIV/AIDS, Jack confronts Bitty, LGBTQ Character, Late night talks, M/M, Sickfic, because Bitty is on so many medications, bitty - Freeform, its all very sad, jack thinks he's a dealer of some sort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-10 08:48:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7838314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2Elenora2/pseuds/2Elenora2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jack accidentally stumbles across Bitty's large stash of medications the only thing that crosses Jacks mind, that he's a drug dealer and that he's selling stuff all across campus. So when Jack confronts him, Bitty's answer leaves him wishing he was Samwells resident drug dealer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Illness I care not to Admit

"Hey Bitty, do you have any Advil?" Jack asked, popping his head into Bittles' room. Bitty looked at Jack, slightly startled by the appearance of his Captian.  
"Yeah sure." Bitty stood up and walked out of his room and into the bathroom. Jack followed closely behind him, and watched as he opened up his draw and rattled through bottles and bottles of medications. Jack froze in the doorway, his chest constricting sightly as he looked over those little orange pill bottles. He couldn't help but wonder why Bitty had so many pills. He seemed healthy enough, and had never mentioned anything about being ill? Then a though dawned on him. What if he sold those around campus to make a little bit of extra money? After all, he sure does bake a lot and baking supplies aren't free. Bitty is still searching through the drawer of pills, finally coming upon a box of Advil tablets and turning around and holding it out to Jack who was still in his state of worry and fear.  
"You okay, Jack?" Bitty asked.  
"I-um, yeah." Jack shook his head and tugged a smile onto his face and took the Advil from Bittys' outstretched hand. "Thanks."  
Jack turned on his heal and left the bathroom as fast as he could, trying not to think about what all those little pill bottles were doing in Bittys' bathroom drawer.

~*~

Jack couldn't sleep that night. All he could do is lay awake with his brain whirring, thinking about Bitty and those pill bottles in his drawer. He wasn't hung up on the fact that they were medicines, it wasn't like that. He was caught up in his fear for Bitty. They were either his, or there was something different going on with those pills.  
It was about two a.m when Jack decided to go make a hot chocolate for himself, hoping that the warmth would coax him into sleep. When he opened his door, he saw light streaming out from under Bittys' door and he thought to himself 'just go ask him'. 

Jack had made himself and Bitty a hot chocolate and knocked lightly on his door. The light was on, but whether he's awake or not is a 50/50 chance. Suddenly, there's some shuffling, and then Bitty opened the door. Jack sucked in his breath at the sight of Bitty. He has bags under his eyes and his face is more pale than usual. His hair is untamed and he is slouched over, his small frame held up by the wall. Jack decided not to comment, but instead offers Bitty the hot chocolate. Bitty takes it in his hands, wrapping his slender fingers around the mug and offered Jack a thankful smile in return.  
"I couldn't sleep." Jack explained.  
"Neither can I." Bitty shrugged and bit his lip. "Want to come in? I'm just doing homework."  
"Sure." Jack smiled at Bitty and followed him in, sitting on his bed while Bitty resumed his place at his desk. They both sit in silence for a while, the only sound was Bittys' pen scratching on his notebook. Bitty was hunched over, his eyes blinking slower and slower as time went on. "You okay there?"  
"Just not feeling the best, y'know?" He muttered, rubbing his head.  
"I can leave." Jack offered.  
"You can stay." Bitty said quickly. "If you want to, I mean. There's no way I'm going to get any sleep tonight."  
"Oh." Jack stayed put. "You want to talk about it?" Bitty shook his head and continued on with his homework while Jacks thoughts drifted back to that drawer full of pills. His mind was caught up on all those medications in Bittys' drawer, wondering what they were doing there and what they were for.  
"What're you thinkin'?" Bitty asked as he swiveled his chair around to face Jack. "I can hear your brain buzzing."  
"I'm, it's just-" Jack sighed. He needed to ask him, keep it plain and simple, straightforward. "Can I ask you something? Something personal?"  
"Yeah, of course."  
"Those pills, in your drawer..."  
"You saw them, huh?" Bitty said. Looking at him now, Jack could see that this small boy was impossibly pale and that goosebumps had risen on his uncovered arms. Jack reached over and picked up a small crocheted blanket and draped it over Bittys' shoulders. Bitty smiled in appreciation.  
"And as your Captain, and friend, I'm a little concerned." Jack stated, even though 'a little concern' didn't even sum up the near panic he was now feeling.  
"You don't need to be worried, Jack." Bitty smiled reassuringly, turning his chair to face Jack. "It's just... management. Just to manage a few things."  
"It's not bad, is it?" Jack asked with serious concern woven in his voice and etched on his face. Bitty shook his head and tried to pull a smile on his face, but the look on Jacks face, the genuine worry, the genuine concern was what made him burst into tears and silent sobs broke from his chest. He hunched over and put his head in his hands a cried. Jack felt his heart break as he watched Bitty cry. Jack wrapped his arms around Bitty and they both stood up to get a better grip and hold onto each other tighter. Jacks concern had risen dramatically from the moment Bitty had begun to cry and his anxiety began creeping up a few levels too. "You'll be okay, Bittle."  
"No I won't." Bitty muttered into Jacks chest. Jack tightened his hold on Bitty. They stood there for a few moments and then Bitty stepped back and looked up at Jack with red-rimmed eyes. "If I tell you, you can't tell anyone else. Promise?"  
"Of course, Bittle." Jack said.  
"I haven't ever told anyone this. Lord, not many people even have a clue." Bitty shook his head and took a seat on his bed. "So. Uh. I have HIV." 

Silence hung in the air with those words buzzing around Jacks head. Sure, he knew enough about it. He knew that it can be passed from contact with infected blood or through other bodily fluids. He knew that in many ways it was bad, and that it would be even worse if it clicked over to AIDS, well, when. He knew that there was a huge epidemic in the 80's and that people died from this.  
Suddenly it was like Jack couldn't breath. His chest was tight and he felt light headed. So, he did what he usually did. They both sat down, side by side, on Bitty's bed.  
"I-" Jack started but Bitty waved him off.  
"You don't have to say anything. It means the world to me that you didn't flinch or move away when I told you."  
"Bit-"  
"Please Jack. Don't say anything." Bitty sighed.

"I have to, okay?" Jack muttered, looking into his eyes. He needed to tell Bitty that he didn't think any differently of him. That while yes, he was concerned for his health, it would not change how he treated him. He wanted him to know that he would be there for him on the days he felt like he just couldn't get anything done. He wanted, above all else, for Bitty to know just how important he was to the team and that he was sure Bitty would not be treated differently if he wished to disclose his illness to the team. And so, he told him all this. Bitty smiled the whole time as tears welled in his eyes.  
"Thank you." He muttered.  
"You can come to me if you need anything." Jack smiled and placed an arm around Bitty and drew him in for a hug.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this wasn't horrible, and if I managed to get any information wrong please let me know! I'd like to have this fic as accurate as possible.  
> Also, all thoughts are set out between two ' things because I have no idea how to get italics up, Im sorry. I'd also like to apologize for the excessive use of dialogue.  
> I've also kind of edited it? But not like, to the max kind of edit so please let me know if there is any mistakes.


End file.
